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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25161589">All That Glitters is Gold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/anactualforrealadult/pseuds/anactualforrealadult'>anactualforrealadult</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All Star verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>All mistakes are because I'm posting this at 3:30 in the am, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Deaf zuko, Fluff and Angst, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Gratuitous use of Smash Mouth's All Star, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, I gave him an hearing aid, Incorrect use of Be Gay Do Crimes, M/M, Minor Sokka/Suki, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, This takes place in New Jersey because I said so, Toph's are shoplifting, YOU KNOW IT, Zukka's crimes are snuggles, Zuko Deserves Nice Things, its sokka's theme song, minor bakoda, no beta we die like men, only rated T for swears, shoutout to Wegmans for being the very best, thats it, time for 3 am gay fanfiction, we know it, well half</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:48:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25161589</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/anactualforrealadult/pseuds/anactualforrealadult</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko goes to school across the country to get away from his abusive father and naturally his roommate is the most obnoxious person he's ever met.  It doesn't matter how hot he is, he's blasting All Star and is wearing CROCS.</p><p>or</p><p>Zuko finds a place for All Star in his heart, right next to where he keeps Sokka</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All Star verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900495</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fics that happen in New Jersey</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All That Glitters is Gold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>           Zuko could hear the music from his car as he unloaded his few possessions. Move-in day was already chaotic and loud enough to overwhelm him within minutes of arrival, but on top of all of it was this god-awful song. This is what he gets for choosing to live on campus. As he makes his way to the building and up the stairs with his duffle and a suitcase, he tries to remind himself of all the reasons why he chose to do this. <em>You could be living at home</em>, he thinks. <em>You could be living in an apartment you won’t be able to afford once Father finally disowns you</em>. <em>You will be closer to the library to study</em>. <em>You don’t plan on actually spending much time in this building</em>. He makes it up the last flight of stairs and starts checking the door numbers. The music is unfortunately getting louder the closer he gets to what must be his room. It’s getting a little unbearable, so he puts down his bag and reaches up to turn off his hearing aid. Times like this he wishes he was entirely deaf, not just half. He finally reaches the correct number room.</p><p>            The music is coming from his dorm.</p><p>            His roommate is the one blasting music loud enough for the entire campus to hear.</p><p>            Why does the universe hate him?</p><p>            He stares in horror at the tan guy who must be his new roommate, who is decorating while singing at the top of his lungs.</p><p>            “<em>HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL STAR, GET YOUR GAME ON, GO PLAY!</em>”</p><p>            Zuko takes a deep breath and knocks on the open door. He has to knock a little louder in order to actually get his roommate’s attention. The guy finally looks up and smiles at Zuko’s arrival. He’s wearing a blue tank top and ridiculous jorts, but the real crime is the crocs. Instead of turning the music down like a normal person, he simply chooses to shout over it. Not that Zuko can understand what he’s saying between the music and his hearing aid off. It sounds like some sort of greeting and other nonsense chatter. His lip reading has never been as good as he wanted it to be. Having only one fully functioning eye will do that to you. He manages to indicate that he would like the roommate (Sokka? He thinks, trying to remember the information from this housing emails) to turn down the music, which he blessedly does.</p><p>            “Sorry dude! Didn’t realize how loud it was! It’s Zuko right? I’m Sokka.”</p><p>            Zuko nods, and shakes Sokka’s hand. He brings his suitcase and bag into the room and places them on the empty bed before trying to subtly turn his hearing aid back on. Not subtly enough it appears, as his roommate chooses to comment on it immediately.</p><p>            “Hey now! I’m starting to think that you just didn’t like my choice of music! You can’t even hear right! Or left I should say!” Sokka is cackling at his terrible joke, and Zuko tries his best not to scream at the person he has to live with for the rest of the year. This guy doesn’t know him, doesn’t know how his disability isn’t a joke to him.</p><p>            “I mean, it is a terrible song, but also my aids don’t process loud sounds very well, and my other ear is very sensitive to compensate. So it’s actually kind of painful. Plus I couldn’t understand anything you were saying before because my auditory processing is shit when there’s too much noise.”</p><p>            His roommate flushed with embarrassment. Zuko took a moment to observe the other guy properly. Tall and muscular, he supposed Sokka must be on one of the sports teams, or else just very vain about his looks. He would have expected the tank top to say “Suns out Guns out!” or some other nonsense, but is surprised to find puff paint lettering that says, “Women love me, fish fear me, mermaids aren’t sure how they feel”. The jorts look incredibly homemade, horribly uneven and covered in various stains and rips. The crocs are rainbow and are still the worst part of this ensemble.</p><p>            “Holy shit dude, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have joked about that, like disabilities are not a joke, it wasn’t funny. I’ll try to not play my music so loud anymore, shitdamn.”</p><p>            Zuko tries to appreciate the apology. “It’s ok man, you didn’t know.” He takes a breath and begins to recite his memorized speech. “I was in an accident a few years back, I have very limited hearing on the left and very little vision on that side as well. It’s why the left side of my face looks like shit too. No, I don’t want to talk about it, and no you don’t have to pity me or whatever, just try not to play shit too loud, and we’ll be fine.”</p><p>            Sokka nods, “Got it, sorry again. Do you want help bringing your stuff up? That’s what I was asking before when you couldn’t hear me. Also, is there anything else I can do to make things easier in terms of your hearing and vision? I’m not actually the asshole you probably think I am right now.”</p><p>            This was surprising, most people never asked follow up questions that were actually practical. “Umm, I guess just try to get my attention before saying stuff to me? It’s easier for me to understand what people are saying when I am looking right at them. And maybe don’t approach me from the left if possible? It’s unsettling since I can’t sense as well on that side.”</p><p>            Sokka nods again and smiles, as if he is actually paying attention and plans to do these things. Zuko finds it doubtful. Mostly because he has trust issues, but that’s not important to dwell on. “I have a few more things in my car, but you don’t need to help, it’s fine.” He turns to return out the door and finds Sokka following him, apparently disregarding the statement about not needing help. Sokka walks on his right side going down the stairs, which is probably a coincidence, and nudges Zuko’s elbow after a flight.</p><p>            “So what’s your major? I’m Engineering.”</p><p>            “Finance, with a minor in Entrepreneurship.” <em>Unfortunately</em>, he thinks. He would rather do anything else in the world, but he needed to bend to his father’s wishes if he ever wanted to be allowed to go to school out of state. As far from his father as possible.</p><p>            “Nice! Maybe you can help me with my taxes in the spring!” Sokka’s bright blue eyes light up, and Zuko can’t help but be drawn in by them. He shakes his head, both to negate the statement and to clear this head. This is not the time to be gay.</p><p>            “Just because I’m a finance major doesn’t mean I actually know shit about taxes.”</p><p>            Sokka’s laugh is like music and Zuko really doesn’t have time to even consider a man wearing crocs attractive. Who is also his roommate. His attractive roommate who is probably a jock. And also wearing crocs. It’s unethical on several levels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Sokka turns out to not be a jock. In fact, he’s a big old nerd who happened to win the genetics lottery. And spending his free time helping his dad on a fishing boat helps too. Zuko learns this and much, <em>much</em> more than he hoped to learn about his roommate over the coming weeks. Technically it’s fine, as he doesn’t really like to talk, and it distracts Sokka from asking about Zuko’s life. Zuko now knows that Sokka grew up here in New Jersey, lives with his dad, little sister, and grandmother “down the shore” (what the hell kind of phrase is that?), and has some strong opinions about bagels, pizza, and something that is inexplicably called both “Taylor Ham” and “Pork Roll”. He also hates the Boston Red Sox, which Zuko quickly learns is the one thing that everyone in this state actually agrees on.</p><p>            While Sokka is an incredibly tiring roommate, at least he goes home pretty much every weekend, living only an hour away from the school. This is not one of those weekends. Instead, Zuko is being forced to watch <em>Shrek</em> on Sokka’s laptop in the middle of the day when he would rather be studying. He knows it’s his own fault for bringing up the fact that he had maybe watched it only once as a young child. But it’s Sokka’s fault for playing <em>All Star</em> on repeat all morning while they attempted to make the dorm look like a livable space before Sokka’s family came to visit for Homecoming festivities the next day. But again, it was Zuko’s fault for demanding to know why Sokka loved the song so much, which led to an inane rant about it’s cultural impact and it’s role <em>Shrek</em> had on it’s popularity and Zuko should not have mentioned that he didn’t remember the song being in the movie.</p><p>            Watching it now, it actually incredible that he didn’t remember the song being in the movie, considering it was in the very first scene. He also can’t believe how good the whole soundtrack for the movie is? How on earth did they have the money for the rights to all these songs? And it was created at the same time as <em>Prince Of Egypt</em>? And now he has discovered that Sokka has never watched <em>Prince of Egypt, </em>which is a damn shame because Zuko’s father is nothing if not a Christian bigot but that was one movie they were allowed to watch growing up that didn’t make Zuko feel terrible about himself. By the end of <em>Shrek</em>, Zuko finds that maybe it’s not a terrible film (he refuses to admit that he actually enjoyed it) and they start <em>Prince of Egypt, </em>which Sokka LOVES within the first five minutes. He also cries during the first five minutes, which is to be expected. The movie doesn’t usually make Zuko cry any more but seeing Sokka cry brought up some feelings he forgot he had so maybe he’s tearing up a little too.</p><p>            By the end of the second film the sun is just starting to set, Sokka has ordered pizza, they are having a deep discussion about the soundtracks for both films, and Zuko isn’t quite as annoyed by Sokka’s ringtone (it’s <em>All Star</em> of course) when it goes off while Sokka is getting the pizza. It’s Sokka’s dad, and Zuko’s not sure if they’ve reached the friendship stage where he can answer the phone for Sokka when it’s family, but he doesn’t need to since Sokka returns before it stops ringing.</p><p>            “Hey Dad, what’s up?” There’s silence and then Sokka screams. Zuko flinches instinctively but now Sokka has dropped the pizza and he’s dancing in a circle and is still screaming, but it’s evident that it’s a happy scream. He’s about to punch Sokka when the screaming finally stops.</p><p>            “OH MY GOD IT FINALLY HAPPENED THIS IS INCREDIBLE I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR LIKE TEN YEARS! TELL ME EVERYTHING WHO ASKED WHO?!”</p><p>            Zuko deftly rescues the pizza from the floor and brings it back to the nest he and Sokka had created on his bed over the last several hours. Sokka’s enthusiasm doesn’t fade but Zuko hasn’t quite pieced together what happened yet. Eventually, Sokka ends the phone call with an excessive number of <em>I love you</em>’s, and gives out one last high pitched scream at Zuko who is just trying to eat pizza in peace.</p><p>            “MY DAD GOT ENGAGED!”</p><p>            “Umm congrats?” Zuko doesn’t claim to listen to everything Sokka has said about his dad, but he doesn’t remember there being a significant other in the picture.</p><p>            “Congrats doesn’t even begin to cover it! I have been waiting for him and Bato to get married for YEEEAARRSS. They’ve been best friends since childhood, and they officially got together a few years after Mom died, and like I know my Dad loved my mom and everything but those two are couple goals.” His eyes have a dreamy look to them. “Bato asked him while they were fishing this morning, and Katara is going to send me pictures because Bato let her know ahead of time. Oh! Here they are!” He sat down on the bed and shoved the phone at Zuko, who was now looking at a picture of two tanned men on a boat, one down on his knee. Wait. Two men?</p><p>            “Your dad is marrying a guy?”</p><p>            Sokka turned sharply, “You got a problem with that? We may have just bonded over <em>Shrek</em> but I will absolutely fight you if you have a problem.”</p><p>            “No, no, I just didn’t realize, that is, you never mentioned, gay is fine, gay good, I gay.” Zuko blushed furiously, realizing that he let his secret slip in the midst of his panic. He watched as Sokka’s eyes widened.</p><p>            “…You gay?”</p><p>            “…I…gay.”</p><p>            Sokka put down his phone and collapsed against Zuko’s side laughing. Zuko felt like he might explode at any moment. He had just accidentally come out for the first time, and his roommate thought it was funny.</p><p>            “Oh my damn this explains so much! You should have told me! We could have been gay doing crimes this whole time!”</p><p>            Wait. what?</p><p>            “I mean, I’m bi, but I think that <em>be gay do crimes</em> can still apply in this case. That’s awesome dude! I’m gonna have to take you home one of these weekends, Asbury Park is the gay capital of Jersey, you’ll love it.”</p><p>            Zuko is still panicking over this sudden turn of events, but Sokka doesn’t seem to notice as he reaches over the grab some pizza and then his laptop.</p><p>            “Bato is coming to come up tomorrow too with Dad, Katara, and Gran-gran, so you’ll get to meet the whole family! You’ll fit right in! Now, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you have never watched <em>The Princess Bride</em>, because your childhood was clearly a tragic mess and you have seen probably one good movie in your whole life, which we just watched. Get ready for some medieval shenanigans.”</p><p>            Sokka has settled back into their nest as the movie starts, and Zuko finds it easier to breath again. He just came out for the first time, and it didn’t go badly? He had predicted his coming out would be filled with fire and destruction, but instead he feels safe and warm inside. His mind is already switching gears from the intense moment before. The old man in the opening of this movie reminds him of his uncle.</p><p> </p><p>--------------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Zuko and Sokka get their first noise complaint two weeks before the start of winter break sophomore year. Finals and papers are weighing them down, and Suki just broke up with Sokka because she realized she was “a whole ass lesbian”. They are drinking some whiskey they stole from the last party they went to and singing <em>All Star </em>way too loudly. Zuko has lived with Sokka for a year or so now, and hates to admit that he has developed a fondness for the song. They way you develop fondness for Guy Fieri or Cher or ABBA. It’s cheesy, but makes you feel things. Plus, it’s what Sokka needs right now. Zuko thinks he needs it too, the whole situation has made him consider that perhaps he should break up with his asshole, cheating boyfriend.</p><p>            The RA finally came by to tell them to knock it off, and while the music isn’t as loud anymore, they are still drunkenly singing. Their RA is a wimpy underclassman like them, and they know he won’t actually write them up or anything. Sokka looses his footing as he’s dancing, and finally flops on to his bed face down. Zuko saunters over and flops down half on top of him. He’s not normally this physically affectionate, but he’s drunk and tired. Sokka says something, muffled by the blankets.</p><p>            “What’s that?”</p><p>            Sokka pulls his head up with great effort and turns it to the side to look at Zuko.</p><p>            “The years start coming and they don’t stop coming.”</p><p>            “And they don’t stop coming.”</p><p>            “And they don’t stop coming.”</p><p>            “And they don’t stop coming?”</p><p>            “And they don’t stop coming.”</p><p>            “Didn’t make sense not to live for fun at least?”</p><p>            Sokka groans and closes his eyes. “My brain gets smart but my head gets dumb, godddd why is this song so relatable to my life right now?” Zuko is rubbing circles on his roommate’s back, and tries to think comforting thoughts instead of horny ones because Sokka lost his shirt hours ago. The tanned Jersey boy turns over to lay on his side, and Zuko can see there are tears forming in his eyes.</p><p>            “Clearly I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, and she had her finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead. The L stands for lesbian.” Zuko chuckles, but he can tell it’s not helping. Sokka is actively crying now, and reaches out to hold Zuko, who begrudgingly lets him latch on. They are still drunk enough for it to not be weird, and Zuko thinks that maybe he’s a little more touch starved than he realized.</p><p>            “Hey now, rockstar. It’s gonna be ok. She said she still wanted to be friends. It’s just gonna take some time for that to feel not like shit.”</p><p>            He can hear Sokka sniffle into his chest. “I knowwwww but I want the rest of it. I want the love.”</p><p>            “I know, that’s rough buddy. The power of Smash Mouth will get you through this trying time. You wanna watch <em>Shrek</em> again?” They have watched it three times this week alone.</p><p>            He feels Sokka shake his head. “Maybe in a bit, my head is spinning too much.” Zuko sighs and stops rubbing Sokka’s back in favor of just holding him. They are both silent for a few minutes, and Zuko thinks that maybe Sokka has fallen asleep when the tanned body finally lets him go and scoots back slightly on the bed to look at Zuko properly.</p><p>            “Fellas, is it gay to hold your best friend tenderly while you’re drunk and sad?”</p><p>            Zuko considers this. “Considering that we are drinking illegally and you are crying over your ex who came out as a lesbian to you, I think this falls under the clause of <em>be gay do crimes</em>, so we should be ok.”</p><p>            “So it is gay?”</p><p>            “Only as long as we stay within five feet of each other, because otherwise it falls into the category of ‘not gay’”</p><p>            Sokka finally laughs at this, Zuko knows exactly what memes to use. He slowly sits back up and leans against the wall, where Zuko joins him a moment later with his laptop and the whiskey.</p><p>            “You ready to watch <em>Shrek</em> now?”</p><p>            “Only if you pretend to be Shrek and I get to be Donkey.” Sokka has already snuggled up against Zuko’s side.</p><p>            “You know my Scottish accent is shit, but you do Donkey so well, I guess I can deal.”</p><p>            “I love your Shrek impersonation <em>because</em> your Scottish accent is shit. And you’re right, my Donkey is excellent.”</p><p>            “Any time bro.”</p><p>            “Thanks bro.”</p><p>            “I got you bro.”</p><p>            “Bro.”</p><p>            “Bro.”</p><p>            “I miss Suki.”</p><p>            “You’re ruining the bro-ment. Drink some more whiskey and watch the damn movie.”</p><p> </p><p>----------------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Zuko wishes he was literally anywhere else right now. When he agreed to fly back to Jersey to celebrate his and Sokka’s twenty-first birthdays, he was imagining more drinking and less babysitting in the middle of Walmart. He only had a week before he was expected to be back home interning for his father’s company, and he was not interested in spending any of this blessed week in the capitalistic hellscape he was in now. Katara and her boyfriend Aang were arguing over possible Sokka locations, Toph kept trying to shoplift under the excuse of <em>be gay do crimes</em>, and Suki (who Sokka had finally forgiven for imposition of being gay) was on the phone with her girlfriend, not being helpful. This was supposed to be a quick mission, and instead they had been here for over an hour when Sokka disappeared. It had been nearly forty-five minutes since then, and Sokka wasn’t answering his phone. Probably because it died. Again.</p><p>            Zuko is ready to go to the “lost child” counter when he decides to try one last desperate act of hope. He fiddles with his phone for a moment, and then holds it over his head like a beacon of hope.</p><p>            “<em>SomeBODY once told me, the world was gonna roll me, I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed…</em>”</p><p>            The rest of the group stops talking and silently looks at Zuko, who is starting to slowly walk down one of the main aisles of the store, his phone at full volume. He feels like Knuckles in one of Sokka’s dumb <em>Sonic</em> games, trying to sense if he is getting hotter or colder to his goal. People are staring, and he hates it more than anything, but at least they are staring at his dumb choices and not his scarred face. They turn a corner following the perimeter of the store, and walk about halfway down when Sokka bursts out from a rack of clothing and latches on to Zuko while jumping up and down.</p><p>            “<em>The ice we skate is getting pretty thin, the waters getting warm so we might as well swim!</em> Zukooooo I misssssed youuuuuu!” He gives Zuko a dramatic kiss on the cheek, who hopes Sokka doesn’t notice his fierce blush forming.</p><p>            “You wouldn’t have missed me if you had stayed with the group asshole!”</p><p>            “Language Zuko, there are children here.”</p><p>            “I have been in this Godforsaken store for nearly two hours longer than I wanted to be here, I will say whatever shit I like.”</p><p>            “But we’ve only been here for two hours?”</p><p>            “Exactly.”</p><p>            “Alright, alright, I get it babe, sorry for running off, let’s get you out of here and to somewhere much more fun.”</p><p>            “Literally anywhere else?”</p><p>            “Yes, specifically the liquor section of Wegmans. Also, gotta appreciate the homing signal method, how did you know it would work?”</p><p>            Zuko rolled his eyes. “Sokka you have been my best friend for two entire years, I think I know exactly what song to use to draw you out of hiding.”</p><p>            “Still took you almost an hour.”</p><p>            “Would have been less if I wasn’t stuck on babysitting duty.”</p><p>            They had checked out already and were heading for the doors when the security sensors went off. Toph went into a sprint.</p><p>            “Toph get back here!”</p><p>            “I’m invincible! Capitalistic pigs!”</p><p>            “Toph you’re going to run into traffic!”</p><p>            Zuko sighed as he watched the rest of the group chase after Toph in the parking lot. He would take his time walking back to Sokka’s car and hope that they had caught Toph by the time he got there. Leaving the mega-store had helped bring Zuko back to his senses, and he realized how unhappy loosing Sokka had made him, and the flutter it brought to his stomach to have him jump out of the racks. He was definitely gay for his best friend. It was fine. Everything was fine.</p><p>            It was less fine later that night after a few shots and too many ABBA songs at the gay bar, but Zuko was having the time of his life and decided that it didn’t make sense not to live for fun. It was appropriately during <em>Waterloo</em> when Zuko finally had enough and grabbed Sokka’s face. After miscalculating and whacking their heads together, Zuko finally located Sokka’s lips. After a moment, Sokka pulled away, furrowed his brow, and signed for Zuko to stay where he was. Zuko had turned off his hearing aid the second they walked in the door. He tracked Sokka as the tanned man raced through the crowd and ran up to the DJ. The two had a very heated conversation that ended with Sokka slipping the man some money. Moments after <em>Waterloo</em> ended, <em>All Star</em> came on. Sokka ran back to Zuko, who now wore a stunned expression.</p><p>            “<em>Really?</em>” he signed, rolling his eyes for emphasis.</p><p>            “<em>Yes</em>.” Sokka signed back, and grabbed the back of Zuko’s neck for another kiss. “<em>It’s our song babe.”</em></p><p>            “<em>I hate you</em>.”</p><p>            “<em>Maybe you’ll hate me less if you keep kissing me.</em>”</p><p>            Zuko couldn’t argue with that, and happily replayed the night in his head during the flight back to Los Angeles. He was returning to a hellscape worse than Walmart, but at least now he had a boyfriend.</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Things were not going the way he had planned. Not that the plan had been very good to begin with, but at least it had been a plan. He had hoped to save up what he could, secure some grants for his last years at Princeton, and then tell his father he was changing his major. It wouldn’t have been pretty, but hopefully he wouldn’t be completely disowned.</p><p>            That plan went out the window the third week of his junior year, when he accidentally sent a snap of him and Sokka to the wrong person. That person being his sister. Who outed him immediately. Zuko was disowned, funding for school pulled, Res Life informing him that his housing deposit had been pulled and he would have to move out by the end of the week. He had cried for hours while his boyfriend held him tight. This was the most serious challenge they had ever faced together. But in spite of the current dumpster fire, he was so, <em>so</em> lucky. Zuko stayed with Sokka’s family for a week, comforted by the two dads and grandmother who had practically adopted Zuko freshman year. A week later, he was with his uncle, living a little closer to Princeton, a little closer to Sokka. Zuko was grateful to every god out there that he had been able to reconnect with his father’s estranged brother the year prior, who had been estranged because he disagreed with Ozai’s method of parenting. And, like, everything else Ozai stood for. He worked in Uncle’s tea shop for the rest of the semester, trying to distract himself from the emptiness inside. The agony of having life as he knew it ripped out from under him.</p><p>            He was trying to learn how to be content with this new life when Sokka, <em>beautiful</em>, <em>wonderful</em> Sokka had gifted him with an apartment lease at the end of the semester. His boyfriend explained that he hated not living with Zuko, and dorm life was so beneath him now. It was going to be a tiny studio, relatively safe neighborhood, with big windows for maximum vitamin D. Zuko needed a lot of it, and Sokka wasn’t just making an innuendo. They would barely be able to afford the rent, but they <em>could</em> afford it. The place was even cat friendly, “for someday” Sokka had said. To say Zuko sobbed was an understatement. It was the best Christmas gift he had ever gotten.</p><p>            And so here he was the first week of January, unloading boxes from his uncle’s car in the freezing cold, walking towards his new home. Despite the few snowflakes falling from the sky, he could tell that Sokka had opened their windows already, because he could hear music coming from them.</p><p>            “<em>SomeBODY once asked could I spare some change for gas, I need to get myself away from this plaaaaace. I said yup, what a concept, I could use a little fuel myself, and we could all use a little chaaaaaange</em>.”</p><p>            He smiled. Smash Mouth was right. So much to do, so much to see. So what’s wrong with taking the backstreets? You’ll never know if you don’t go.</p><p> </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Zuko had never been more proud of himself. It had taken far longer than normal, but he was finally graduating with a degree in Sociology, ready to start working his dream job at a nonprofit mentorship program. After a few years of just them getting by between his job and Sokka’s tiny wages for teaching undergrads, his uncle had finally put his foot down and insisted he would pay for Zuko to return to school if he wished. And he wished. Not that he hated working at the tea shop, but he had too much hunger to settle. So he started at Rutgers, trying to work and study and intern as much as he could without ignoring his boyfriend. Fiancée now, he corrected himself. He reached up and felt for the necklace Sokka had given him the night before.   Sokka had felt that engagement rings weren’t gay enough, and he had designed it himself. He suspected there may have been some illegal 3D printer use involved as well, but he didn’t ask.</p><p>            His department was having a more intimate graduation ceremony in a medium sized classroom before the big one at the football stadium that afternoon. He could see his whole chosen family beaming from the front row, Sokka’s smile the biggest. His fiancée was skipping his own master’s graduation to be here (“The last thing I want to do is attend a <em>second</em> Princeton graduation ceremony, trust me, you were there, you remember the nonsense.”). The department head began calling names, and Zuko watched as Sokka fiddled with something in his lap. It looked like a small speaker. Zuko desperately tried to catch his man’s eyes.</p><p>            “<em>Sokka, NO</em>.” he signed desperately.</p><p>            “<em>Sokka, YES</em>.”</p><p>            Before he could argue, his name was called and the music started.</p><p>            “<em>HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL STAR, GET YOUR GAME ON, GO, PLAY! HEY NOW, YOU’RE A ROCK STAR, GET THE SHOW ON, GET PAID!</em>”</p><p>            Zuko knew his face was beet red as he quickly walked up to get his diploma, watching Sokka gyrate wildly to the music.</p><p>            “THAT’S MY MAN RIGHT THERE! HE’S GONNA GET PAID BITCHES!”</p><p>            It was probably inappropriate to stop and whack Sokka with his diploma before shaking hands with the rest of the staff. But his fiancée was within whacking distance so he did, and received a hearty slap on the ass as he walked away.</p><p>            “THAT ASS RIGHT THERE HAS A DEGREE! LOVE YOU BABY!”</p><p> </p><p>------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>            Sokka had been determined to make their wedding the gayest event of the year. Zuko let him handle the details, knowing his love had been secretly planning it since they had started dating. He even let Sokka send at least five rainbow glittered invitations to his father, the last of which resulted in a cease-and-desist letter with a restraining order threat (“Aww babe, how did he know exactly what we wanted? We didn’t even put it on the registry!”). One for equality, Sokka had made sure that Zuko had at least a few jobs to take care of. One of which was ordering the rings. Unable to resist, he added an extra detail on the inside of the band. Which he wasn’t able to point out until they were in the limo on the way to the reception. Sokka had cried plenty during the ceremony, but now his husband was bawling on Zuko’s shoulder looking at the inscription. <em>Only shooting stars break the mold</em>.</p><p>            “Does this mean you’ll forgive me for picking <em>All Star</em> for our first dance?”</p><p>            “Yes, because I knew you would and I already told the DJ that under no circumstances will that be our first song.”</p><p>            “But babeeee!”</p><p>            “You will dance with your husband to <em>My Heart Will Go On </em>because we are distinguished gays, and <em>then</em> we will dance to <em>All Star</em>.</p><p>            “Fine, but then we have to do the Time Warp afterwards.” Sokka huffed.</p><p>            “Well obviously, it’s required by law at every gay wedding.”</p><p>            “Our guests really have no idea of all the gay nonsense coming for them.”</p><p>            “If they made it through the ceremony, I’m sure they’ll live.”</p><p>            Sokka leaned over to give his husband a peck on the lips.</p><p>            “My worlds on fire, how ‘bout yours?”</p><p>            Zuko nuzzled his nose against his husband’s.</p><p>            “That’s the way I like it and I’ll never get bored.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All aboard the Zukka train.<br/>All information about New Jersey comes from 25 years of experience of living in this paradise, all information about hearing loss comes from living with a deaf roommate for three years.  Ozai felt that learning to sign was in fact a SIGN of weakness, but Sokka says thats stupid as shit and makes sign fluency his new goal for the year.<br/>All Star is the best song and it's a vibe in these quarentimes.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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